tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Rep
. 2025 Feb 12;15(1):5186.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-89707-5. The burden of COVID-19 in primary care of Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2021-2022
Nailya Kozhekenova[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Sharapat Moiynbayeva[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 [/SUP], Danilo Jeremic[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Milan Dinic[SUP] 5 6 [/SUP], Pavel Semenov[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Zhansaya Nurgaliyeva[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Shyryn Tolekova[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Anastassiya Miller[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Arshat Smasheva[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Milena Santric Milicevic[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Primary healthcare played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing, timely diagnosing, and referring severe cases to hospitals, as well as monitoring and counseling patients via telemedicine. We used a cross-sectional approach to analyze the severity outcomes of 174,540 COVID-19 cases treated in primary care in Almaty between 2021 and 2022, by age, sex, disease severity, and comorbidities. Outpatients with COVID-19 were mainly aged 30-39 (20.3%) with a mild course (88.9%). Among adults, females predominated (≥ 60-25.5% vs. 19.2%, < 0.001), and among children (0-17), boys - 21.2% vs. 12.1% (p < 0.001). A higher risk for moderate to severe COVID-19 and adverse outcomes was assessed among older adults, particularly those aged 60 and older compared with younger groups (OR = 9.01, 95% CI: 7.72-10.51). Pregnant women had a low risk of severe disease (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.38-0.65). Patients with concomitant disease were at higher likelihood of severe COVID-19 (p < 0.001, OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.9-3.15 for obesity, p < 0.001, OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.27-1.6 for diabetes mellitus, OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.07-1.26 for arterial hypertension, and p < 0.001, OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 2.13-3.02 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The study emphasizes an often-overlooked impact of COVID-19 on primary care, which is essential for improving outpatient care.
Keywords: COVID-19; Comorbidity; Epidemiology; Outpatient; Risk factors.
. 2025 Feb 12;15(1):5186.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-89707-5. The burden of COVID-19 in primary care of Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2021-2022
Nailya Kozhekenova[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Sharapat Moiynbayeva[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 [/SUP], Danilo Jeremic[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Milan Dinic[SUP] 5 6 [/SUP], Pavel Semenov[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Zhansaya Nurgaliyeva[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Shyryn Tolekova[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Anastassiya Miller[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Arshat Smasheva[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Milena Santric Milicevic[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39939733
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-89707-5
Primary healthcare played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing, timely diagnosing, and referring severe cases to hospitals, as well as monitoring and counseling patients via telemedicine. We used a cross-sectional approach to analyze the severity outcomes of 174,540 COVID-19 cases treated in primary care in Almaty between 2021 and 2022, by age, sex, disease severity, and comorbidities. Outpatients with COVID-19 were mainly aged 30-39 (20.3%) with a mild course (88.9%). Among adults, females predominated (≥ 60-25.5% vs. 19.2%, < 0.001), and among children (0-17), boys - 21.2% vs. 12.1% (p < 0.001). A higher risk for moderate to severe COVID-19 and adverse outcomes was assessed among older adults, particularly those aged 60 and older compared with younger groups (OR = 9.01, 95% CI: 7.72-10.51). Pregnant women had a low risk of severe disease (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.38-0.65). Patients with concomitant disease were at higher likelihood of severe COVID-19 (p < 0.001, OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.9-3.15 for obesity, p < 0.001, OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.27-1.6 for diabetes mellitus, OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.07-1.26 for arterial hypertension, and p < 0.001, OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 2.13-3.02 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The study emphasizes an often-overlooked impact of COVID-19 on primary care, which is essential for improving outpatient care.
Keywords: COVID-19; Comorbidity; Epidemiology; Outpatient; Risk factors.